The organization awarded its 28th scholarship with the addition of six more worthy recipients this year. This year FFC went back to its initial scholarship premise and all the award recipients came from neighboring Miramar High School.

Miss Shelly-Ann Panton and Miss Princess Campbell were unable to attend the event. All of the 2013 award recipients will be going off to the college of their choice soon.

This scholarship awards event was well attended by members of the community who are long time supporters and partners of the Family & Friends Connection, Inc. organization. There were so many Happy faces in that room.

The Sons of Mystro Management Team, Mr. & Mrs. McNeish, Attorney Eugene Fitz Ritson from Law Office of Eugene Fitz-Ritson, Mr. Vincent Singletary, Mr. Derrick Munroe, and Master of Ceremonies Mr. Anthony Thompson from ViSalus, Mrs. Carlene Whyte-McNee, ARNP, from Memorial Hospital Miramar and all the hardworking Board members and committee members, volunteers and supporters of FFC, also parents and friends of the award recipients and students.

Broward County Leaders

Broward Vice Mayor Barbara Sharief and City of Miramar Commissioner Wayne Messam showed a united front. It is encouraging when elected leaders in the community give their blessings to the community outreach efforts of hardworking community organizations like Family & Friends Connection, Inc.

Greetings From SFPH

Vice Mayor Barbara brought greetings from Broward County SFPH. She spoke about the positive impact FFC has on it children. She made not that long before area schools were 'A' schools, FFC students were high achievers.

She also mentioned the long relationship that her business South Florida Pediatric Homecare has maintained with the organization over the years.

Greetings From City of Miramar

Commissioner Wayne Messam brought greetings from the City of Miramar and he encouraged the youths to continue to strive for greatness. He also said he wants to be a part of what FFC does to improve lives in the City of Miramar. This was his second year attending the scholarship awards.

South Florida Pediatric Homecare Good Work Award

Through South Florida Pediatric Homecare, Vice Mayor Sharief gave each of the six students a monetary scholarship and the two top awardees received the South Florida Pediatric Homecare Good Work Award.

She pointed out that each recipient had their own set of challenges that they had to overcome to get to the place where they are now. She congratulated the Good Work Award recipients, sisters Keisha and Tricia Brown, for overcoming some difficult times and still achieved academic success.

The South Florida Connects Inc. Awards went to:

The Sons of Mystro

The Sons of Mystro were awesome as they entertained the mainly Caribbean audience with their sweet mix of Mento, Reggae and other genre of music. The violn duo managed by their dad was engaging, lively, fun filled and energetic. They have performed at every FFC scholarship award every year since 2011.

Umoja McNeish the younger of the duo received an academic achievement award. Malcolm was a 2011 scholarship award recipient.

YRIMI Dancers

The YRIMI Dancers provided entertainment to relax the audience even more. It is wonderful to see young people use their talents to glorify God. The YRIMI Dancers and their Youth Leader Dr. Janet Peynado always volunteer at FFC events. They received the FFC academic achievement awards.

Adult High Achiever

FFC volunteer Dr. Janet Peynado accepted her award recognizing her recent graduation from a doctoral program. She is a school teacher with the Broward County School System and also a pastor at YRIMI.

Perseverance & Dedication

Award Recipients, sisters Tricia and Keisha Brown have an amazing story. Although their mom, not picture, is very ill these two young ladies take care of her and managed to have grade point averages of 4.0 and 3.9 respectively. They will be going off to college leaving their grandma (left) and their aunt (center) to care for their mom.

It's amazing what can happen and what can be accomplished through resilience, dedication and ambition.

FFC High Achievers

FFC students are rewarded for their good academic performance each year during the annual scholarship awards banquet. Students from kindergarten to high school are encouraged to continue getting good grades.

FFC students scored in the top percentile on the FCAT Exams. Some of the students are on their Principal's Honor Roll every year, and look forward to receiving their award plaques and certificates. They are very excited about being recognized for their efforts.

They have great examples to follow as other FFC Alumni are blazing the education trail at some of the finest institutions of higher learning in Florida and other states.

At the end of the awards function all the students who did great on their FCAT exams came together for a final group picture with the Broward Vice Mayor, Barbara Sharief, Miramar City Commissioner, Wayne Messam, and the staff of FFC.

Community Outreach by ViSalus

A team of local businessmen from Visalus including Mr. Vincent Singletary, (r) and Mr. Derrick Munroe (l) were introduced to the audience by FFC president Mrs. Donneth Wedderburn They left hundreds of dollars in scholarship money for the FFC scholarship fund. FFC has a networking relationship with local businesses.

Hanging with the Sons of Mystro

The award recipients spent some time hanging out with the talented Sons of Mystro duo. Malcolm and Umoja are popular with the youths as their violins play soothing music that they can all relate to.

Thank You in Many Languages

Thanks to all who came to celebrate academic excellence. Prepare to be there next year when we celebrate more of our youths as they strive for academic superiority despite hardships, illness, and financial difficulties.

Family & Friends Connection, Inc. is a not for profit organization, registered in the state of FloridaAddress: 6237 SW 21st Street, Miramar, Florida 33023::Tel: 954-319-7066: E-mail::famfc2@gmail. comListen To The Donneth Show Live on WAVS 1170AM, www.wavs1170.com For Community Solutions, Wednesdays, 8PM-9PM EST. Or Online at www.wavs1170.com

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